Starter seems sluggish, like I have a bad battery

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
It happens this time of year when temps get below the freezing point. The car turns over slower than normal and sometimes drains the battery before it starts. The battery is 1 year old and tests out fine. I've replaced 3 batteries in the last 5 years. A new battery would get me through the winter, other than extreme cold when I don't dare drive it not knowing if it will start or not. It sits outside for ~11 hours while I'm at work during the day.

FYI, Alternator is kicking out 14.6 volts.

Now I'm considering that this may be a starter issue? How can I really tell, or test the starter? My sister had a 2009 VW Jetta TDI that started without issue even during the coldest times.

Thanks
 
Last edited:

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
I'm not having issues with the battery draining overnight. It just seems to be the starter being very hard to turn over the engine and drain the battery while starting. Just wondering if there is a way to test the starter to see if it creating excessive load due to it not work correctly.
 

dvldog8793

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2013
Location
northern MN, USA
TDI
2013 TDI(gone) 2009 Jetta TDI
Howdy
Pull the starter and bring it in to an auto electric repair shop.
We have a good one in Grand Rapids MN ;-)
When my 2009 was running:mad: it would start great, never had an issue with it turning over.
The other thing to check is the real true proper battery. Sounds like you might have some other electrical issue going on if you have replaced the battery that many times.
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
Honestly, the only reason I replaced the battery that often was to help it start better throughout the winter. During the warm months I have zero starting issues.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
...or...in incorrect size battery...
Would oil viscosity have an impact on cold weather starting? What weight oil?
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
I think you know that you need a starter.
I don't know for sure. It's just another piece of the puzzle that could cause my issue. I definitely don't want to throw parts into it and end up throwing money away.

Are you sure I need a starter?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The Bosch starters rarely just up and die like many other brands of starters do. They almost always get weak and cause slow cranks as they get old.

I think you will be shocked to see just how quickly the engine cranks with a new (reman) Bosch starter installed.

I am doing one on a 1/4 million mile + BRM car this morning, actually, because the owner was told it would be wise to get it replaced before going into winter.
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
The Bosch starters rarely just up and die like many other brands of starters do. They almost always get weak and cause slow cranks as they get old.

I think you will be shocked to see just how quickly the engine cranks with a new (reman) Bosch starter installed.

I am doing one on a 1/4 million mile + BRM car this morning, actually, because the owner was told it would be wise to get it replaced before going into winter.
Ok, I think you've talked me into it.

Thanks
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
What battery are you putting in?

Batteries: Of the 3 batteries I've changed out in the last 5 years, 2 were from VW and 1 was an EverStart Maxx. Didn't notice a difference between them.

Oil: In the last 5 years, roughly 10 oil changes, 7 were whatever VW uses and 3 where mobile 1 TDT 5W40. Again, I did not notice an easier or harder start; ever.
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
This is getting old

I bought a starter from my local Motor parts store. They had is shipped in from Chicago for me. I have no shop to install this myself since I am building a house and have already sold my old house, so I had a local shop put it in for me. I returned later that day only to be told I had the wrong starter. They said it fit installed fine, but when they went to connect the electrical connection to the solenoid, it was the wrong shaped connection. Looking at the replacement starter it had a rectangle shaped connection (Starter- Wilson BBS 17755).

I don't want this to happen again, especially if I am going to have to pay for shipping to me and back it its the wrong starter again. Anyone know how I can be sure the starter is the correct one?

They asked the year (2006) it's actually a 2005.5, I told them it was a manual transmission, TDI.

Any pictures of the correct starter may help as well.

Thanks
 

FletchMan

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Location
Black Hills
TDI
2006 Jetta, 99.5 Jetta...previously owned 2000 Beetle and 1990 Jetta 1.6
The Bosch number is SR0408x

That is all I would put in there.

Learned this years ago, the hard way. You aren't going to save much upfront and it will never even be close to worth it in the long run...for so many reason.
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
Oh Man!!

I was making calls to Bosch and VW and the place motor parts got the first (wrong) starter.

I came to the conclusion that I needed:

VW: 02z 911 023 fx
or
Bosch: 0-001-123-fx
or
SR0833X

ID parts says the SR0408x will not fit. I trust you Oilhammer, but would you mind checking why the SR0833X wouldn't fit: :eek:

2005.5 VW Jetta, TDI, 5-speed manual trans.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Hang on, my bad.

SR0408x is for the square plug connector, which the BRM cars won't have.

BRM manual: SR0455x

BRM automatic: SR0496x

Sorry for the confusion, for some reason it looked it up differently the first time, but when I actually clicked on the part, it directed me to another page with the correct one.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Sorry man, all I do is order one up from my supplier, usually Worldpac, and they would usually have one in their warehouse here in STL, so I would have it in my hand in a couple hours or if I needed it right away I'd send one of our porters down to get it and I would have it in my hand in 20 minutes.

I've never gotten a Bosch reman starter that was wrong. *shrug* If the numbers I provided are wrong, I apologize. Sometimes the pictures in the part lookup are incorrect, but the numbers are correct, and the part in the box is correct.

FWIW, often times the aftermarket reman programs will consolidate several replacement numbers into one part. This can add to the confusion. The reason this happens is that when Bosch made the starter for Volkswagen, they were making thousands of them for a specific application, and they negotiated the lowest price possible. Down to the penny.

So engine A may require a 1.4kw motor, engine B which is mostly the same but maybe a higher performance version with higher compression may require a 1.5kw motor. The manufacturer (Volkswagen, Chrysler, whoever) will be trying to get the best price possible, and the difference in price between the 1.4 and 1.5kw versions may be 4 cents, due to the only difference being a few extra windings of copper wire inside the armature. The manufacturer does not want to pay an extra 4 cents for something they do not need because over the course of all the starters they expect to buy it adds up.

However, when Bosch rebuilds the starters, they may decide that it is of no value to deal with two different numbers, so they just rebuild them for both applications with the 1.5kw motor.

An example of this exact thing happening: Volkswagen Transporters. The late Type 4 engine powered T2s and the early Type 4 engine powered T3s (Vanagons) used the same engine. But, the T3 relocated the battery to the front of the van above the right front wheel, whereas the T2 had the battery in the right rear corner, much closer to the starter. So the T3 needed a larger battery cable, which meant they put a long collar on the end of the cable which required a longer stud on the starter solenoid. Two different starters by part number, but in the Bosch reman line, they realized that the earlier vans could use the long stud starter just fine, they'd just have an extra cm of stud on there. So two part numbers became one.
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
Update:

Good news, the new starter has solved my problem. For the last few years what I blamed on poor battery performance, was really a dying starter. This morning was 4 degree F, and she fired up like nothing. I wouldn't have had a chance of it starting at this temperature over the last 3-4 years. :D
 

dtrvler

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Location
Las Vegas
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 5 spd
Good news, the new starter has solved my problem. For the last few years what I blamed on poor battery performance, was really a dying starter. This morning was 4 degree F, and she fired up like nothing. I wouldn't have had a chance of it starting at this temperature over the last 3-4 years. :D


So which starter turned out to be the correct one?
 
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